The Fish Market is in an old house with a seating area, waiting room and bar upstairs and the kitchen and additional seating downstairs. There were also about 6 stools facing the open kitchen. Soft background music plays and the bare wood tables are paired with lattice work decorations on the walls and wide planked wood floors. It was packed the evening we were there but the noise level wasn’t too bad even though the perimeter tables are fairly close to one another. The middle of the floor had the bigger tables and they were more generously spaced. Service was super friendly, helpful and provided good pacing for the meal. It was an integral part of the success of the meal and possibly why the business has been flourishing for 10 years this August. They offer a 9 course tasting menu and an a la carte menu. We chose the tasting menu and our own bottles of wine, as opposed to the optional pairings (which are only 7 wines). They do have a fairly reasonable wine list as well as a selection of house wines.
While waiting for the tasting to get started we were brought butter and house made warm bread with fruits. It was a dense wheat bread served in a bag that had warmed stones in the bottom. It was very good.
The Bitter Lemon Glazed Artic Char was served on edamame purée with pickled onion, cauliflower and crispy Icelandic rye bread. A final step at the table was to cover it all with shredded dried cod. The char was barely cooked and worked well with the textural contrast of the crispy bread. All the flavors really melded – it was a winner.
Robata grilled Minke Whale was served with horseradish, red currants and soya ginger sauce. This whale is from Iceland and cured in salt. It was totally tender and tasted a lot like a cross between beef and tuna. The whale was seared and paired wonderfully with the various other ingredients and sauces but was also fine on its own. A very tasty dish.
Lumpfish roe was with chervil, pickled onion, sea truffle and fermented potatoes. The sea truffle are the dark shreds on top and they added to the amazing variety of tastes and textures in this dish. It all blended so well and really worked together. A total winner of a dish.
Rock Shrimp Tempura was deep fried in a light tempura batter and served with sweet melon, jalapeño dressing and leek sprouts. The shrimp were hot, juicy and outstanding. The sauce had a nice spiciness and a little lime enhanced the fine taste even more. The melon was terrifically sweet and paired well with the little bits of crunchiness scattered throughout. This was an amazing dish – lick the plate kind of good.
Two pieces of sushi included yuzu scallop and Volcano Langoustine maki with langoustine tartar with sesame oil, 7 spice and chilli on top of maki roll with salmon and cucumber. Both were excellent. The scallop was milder but a great combination of ingredients. The langoustine roll was also an amazing flavor explosion and a great mix of textures. They were both served with wasabi paste, ginger and dipping sauce. Another lick-the-plate dish here.
Lightly salted cod was spiced with lime zest and served with potato purée, dried cranberries and sweet celery salad. The celery salad was a tad sweet and mixed well with the salty cod. The buttery potatoes mixed perfectly with the fish also. Nuts in the salad added a bit of crunch to this great dish.
Mussels were served with a liquid nitrogen broth that was unnecessary. The broth was the star in this dish – it was worth pouring the remainder into the extra cup provided to get every last bit – the dish it came in made it difficult to scoop up a bit of broth to go with the mussels. The mussels were tasty and plump. Another good dish.
Dry aged Angelica Fed Organic Lamb was served with cream of roasted mushrooms, confit lamb shanks, pickled beetroot and fried shitake. The filet of lamb was from Iceland lambs that had been dry aged for 2 weeks. It was fried in butter with no marinade. It had a taste of pure lamb. The 3 types of mushrooms were very good and accented the lamb well. It was all dusted with hazelnut powder. It was a fine dish.
Dessert was a combination plate for the table of all their desserts. Warm chocolate cake was possibly my favorite. Nothing new but really well done and nicely sweet and chocolatey. White chocolate cheesecake with rice crispy meringues and passion fruit sauce was a close second. Two sorbets, blueberry and passion fruit were fine. Raspberry lava mousse needlessly had smoke – nothing needed the special effects because it was all tasty in its own right. Fun to have the selection but confusing to remember. Lots of flavor again here, though.
